Crashed today!!
 

Well, I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. Happened at 6AM this morning. Road was wet this morning with the rain. It wasn't at the time of the crash. I was making right turn. I guess I carried too much speed. If I had to guess I'd guess maybe 15 km/h. I felt the rear sliding. Then it was just a big blur. I went over sideways, landing on my right elbow first, then hip. Fortunately no cars behind me. Quickly collected bike and got off the road. Quick check of the body. Nothing broken. Sat on the steps of that house and contemplated my options. At this point I was only about 15 minutes from home and about 40 minutes from work. Decided to head home, but after pedaling for two minutes and everything felt fine I turned around and headed to work.

The elbow and hip is sore. I had some trouble riding home, but after about 20 minutes I guess the muscles warmed up.

Not a catastrophic crash, but nonetheless the feeling was almost surreal. Scary feeling that moment you're in the precipice of falling and there isn't a darn thing to do about it. I feel lucky. Lesson learned--slow way down when road is wet.http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=486580

Excellent usage of Rule #5 !

Glad you're OK... :beer:

Around here, we get very dry summers, then in the early fall, the roads can be as slippery as ice with the first rain. But, after a few weeks of rain, the roads are back to just normal wet. I've slipped with a car, but not a bike after that first rain.

Glad to hear you're ok.

Time for a new bike? :thumb:

Nice of the cars to stay out of your way. Haha Glad you're okay and good choice with the turn around. Everyone falls but that doesn't mean it isn't frightening. Sometimes that hardest part is just getting back on the bike and pushing through a few more turns. Restore your confidence, so to speak. Check the bike over carefully now that you're home. That cursory glance you gave it earlier might have missed something. Don't be afraid to look at the welds, haha.

I find it strange as well as I have made this kind of turn on wet roads before without any drama. I really didn't think that I was going too fast for the conditions. I thought there might have been a slick oil patch. But I returned to the scene on the way home to inspect the area in the light. Nothing.

Bike is okay. I checked it once I got to work. My body protected it during the fall. But it may be time for new tires. I got Continental Ultras on the back.

I know exactly what you mean. Those first few minutes of riding felt quite strange to me, like the likelihood of me crashing again just went up tenfold or something, which is completely absurd, but that's what trauma does.

The rest of the ride to work was a good 3 km/h slower than I normally ride. Understandable.

Haha. I had to look up that one. I told me wife what happened and she said I was strong. Same idea.

were there any wet leaves about? at this time of year wet leaves are a very real and common danger when taking a turn, particularly in the dark when they are harder to see.

Glad to hear that you're ok and no serious injuries.

I believe this is where the benefit of having yo front lines come in, one on the bars and one on the helmet. With good lightening, it proves power light up at the front tire, a little ways out and further out.

No leaves. I checked the area right afterwards. There was nothing there.

I think I'm a pretty vigilant rider as I am constantly scanning the road for hazards. It felt almost like I hit an ice patch, but the temperatures was 15C this morning.

Glad you and the bike are ok.

Were the painted lines on the street involved? Those suckers are schlick when they're wet!

I would put in a suggestion for some Marathon Supremes. They handle wet pavement very well.

I am glad you are okay [MENTION=381746]mcours2006[/MENTION] The spped doesn't seem too fast so I was wondering the same about the line paint, that is what took me down this time last year, but I was carrying too much speed in the wet also. The roads do get extra slick after no rain fora while since it brings all the car drippings of gas and oils to the surface, especially at intersections where cars and trucks stop.

Maybe you rolled thorough a patch of oil and that spot on the tire was just on the ground at the turns apex and sent you down/

Its a tough getting back on and riding again to see if everything is okay.

At least it is a weekend it gives you a good excuse to sit and relax. Once you get sore it does take a lot longer to warm up but its a good thing to get the muscles and ligaments going again.

No painted lines. But I know what you mean. I have experience 'rear drift' on those areas before. Quite unsettling.

Thinking about changing tires, but with that bike and the MK2 fenders I have on it I don't think anything bigger than 25mm is going to fit.

Thanks. Glad to see you're good again after last year's horrific run-in with the truck.

There may have been an oil slick, but when inspected it on the way home there wasn't nothing there that would indicate the spot would be slippery.

Now that some time has passed I do feel it in my hip area. It's pretty sore. And other areas that I wasn't even aware of are also feeling some stiffness/soreness--left side shoulder, left hip, and back of neck. Nothing major, but I know it's from the fall.

Glad you're OK. Unless you have PTSD, the best thing is to get back on as soon as you safely can.

Moisture can be tricky. Sometimes only a little moisture on the road can make even snow tires skid.

Last year I had an impatient driver pass me on the opposite side of the road. The conditions were only a little moisture that when he tried to get back to the right side of the road he couldn't, skidded rotating 90deg clockwise and stopped just in time to avoid a collision with on-coming traffic. Meanwhile I had no problem at all.

A few days ago I saw a video on the news made by a cyclist following a Benz around a residential circle on ice. The car hit the curb. ha
I go by there often.

NTFU champion of the day. Good on you.

There are some corners on my commute that I take at pretty good speeds, when dry, coming off a downhill. But when wet I have flashes of videos I've seen of guys in the TdF going slipping and sliding in the rain, and I think "oh hell naw not me!" and I haul it down pretty quick before making the turn.